


Hiding Injury

by Fuinixe



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [13]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Aging, F/F, Gen, Good Quynh | Noriko, Mission Fic, Mortal Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Physical Disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29418723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuinixe/pseuds/Fuinixe
Summary: Quynh firmly believes that it's Andy's right to decide when to retire.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Nile Freeman, Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Nile Freeman & Quynh | Noriko, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143242
Kudos: 30
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	Hiding Injury

**Author's Note:**

> This fic includes references to the events in [Day 4](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29208744) and [Day 8](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29311671).

Andy was maybe getting a bit old to come on missions like this, but nobody on the team was ready to say so, yet.

Joe, Nicky, and Booker all deferred to Quynh, each coming to the conclusion that if Quynh wasn’t going to say anything, far be it from them to broach the topic.

Nile had been hassling Andy about her physical safety on a regular basis since the day she’d lost her immortality, and therefore had no credibility on the matter, at least according to Andy.

And Quynh, well… Quynh didn’t need to say anything. They’d had several long, difficult conversations a couple decades ago, and another one after Andy lost her leg, in which Quynh had impressed upon Andy how important it was that she be honest with her about how her mortality was affecting her, even if she put up a bit of a tough front around the others. They could communicate with a touch and a glance, or at night, in the dark, with just a whispered word or two. 

Quynh knew that Andy already knew how Quynh felt about it all. That Quynh understood that Andy would not stop until she was forced to, and Quynh was never going to be that force. She knew and understood her wife too well to do that.

That’s why Andy didn’t ever hold back with her about how she was faring, unless, of course, they were mid-mission.

Like now.

Andromache’s uncomplicated love for snowy weather had been marred not only by age but by their ordeal five years ago in Siberia. She still enjoyed the cold, but her body disagreed, especially the tips of the three fingers that she’d lost to frostbite and which often ached terribly. Quynh could tell that they were bothering her by the way Andy kept flexing her hands when the others weren’t looking. 

Then Quynh couldn’t watch her anymore, because they had reached their target, and her world narrowed down to a whirl of precisely measured violence.

Andy only came back into focus at the very end, when just one fleeing man remained, and Quynh watched Andy raise her gun, fire...and miss _completely._

Her arm twitched, as if spasming, and she dropped the gun with a curse. Quynh was out of bullets. Fifteen seconds later, a shot rang out from Nicky’s rifle, and all was silent.

“Fuck,” Andromache swore, breath ghosting into the night air in front of her as Quynh approached. She didn’t sound angry, though. Just despondent. Quynh picked up the gun and brushed a hand across Andy’s jaw, looking into her eyes so she could say what she needed to.

_It’s okay. I’m here. Nobody blames you._

Andy’s cheek twitched and she looked away to pull her thick gloves back on.

Joe and Booker stayed behind to clean up the bodies while Nicky disappeared to watch over them through his scope. Nile accompanied Quynh and Andy on their long walk back to the vehicles, deconstructing the action at Andy’s side while Quynh listened to their conversation and eyed Andy’s gait for any signs that her prosthetic leg was bothering her. Whether or not Nile had noticed anything was amiss, she gave no sign of it.

Nile fished the keys out of her pocket to drive, unlocking the doors. Andy sat in the passenger seat while Quynh climbed into the back and deposited their gear behind the seat, then started rummaging for the painkillers. Nile started the car and was about to shift it into gear when Andy jerked her hand out to rest on the gear shift. “Wait.” Her voice sounded rough. Nile looked across at her, curiously.

“Before I lose my nerve. Convince myself of what I want to believe. I have to tell you both something.” She cleared her throat. Quynh reached her hand forward to set a reassuring hand on Andy’s shoulder. “I can’t do missions like this anymore. Not in temperatures like this. I shouldn’t.” She let out a long, slow breath in a billow of foggy breath. 

“I tried not to show it, but my hands are killing me. I’m a liability like this.” She held up her dominant hand. It was curled up and trembling faintly. “You didn’t see it Nile, but I missed. Shot went wide. Might matter a lot more, next time. Might hit an innocent.” Quynh passed the bottle of painkillers forward, and Andy fumbled with the cap. Nile took it from her and Andy, rather than snapping as she might have, merely allowed it. Nile shook four pills out onto the cap and Andy tossed them back, swallowing them dry.

“Anyway,” she said with a sniff. She used her stiff fingers to brush a silver lock behind her ear, and turned to look out the window.

“It’s no big deal, boss,” Nile said, screwing the lid back onto the bottle and handing it back to Quynh. “There’s still a hell of a lot of work to do where it’s not 20 degrees below zero. I’m sure Joe and Nicky will appreciate not freezing their balls off.”

“Ha!” Andy huffed. “So true. No matter how frail I get, at least I’ll never be as whiny as those two about the cold. And if I ever do start bitching like them, just put me out of my misery.” 

“Sure thing,” Nile responded, cheerfully, and put the car in drive.


End file.
